Poker Winning Hands

Winning poker hands remain the same for most versions of poker. When playing poker you will try to make the best possible five-card hand from the cards dealt to you. This would be true for most forms of poker with the exception of Razz… but as far as the rest of them go, poker winning hands work as described here.

The poker winning hands are straight forward and should not cause any real confusion.

Here are the winning poker hands starting with the weakest and ending with the strongest:

High Card: If you hold the highest card without any player holding a stronger combination of cards.

Pair: Two cards of the same value. A pair of 4’s for example. A pair can be beaten by a stronger pair.

Two Pair: Any two sets of cards with the same value, An example of two pairs is KK & 88.

Three of a kind: Three cards of the same value for example AAA. This is also referred to as trips or a set.

Straight: Any five cards in numerical sequence of different suits. An example of a straight is 4,5,6,7,8.

Flush: A flush consists of any five cards of the same suit of any value. An example of a flush is 6,2,7,J,3 of hearts.

Full House: A full house is a combination of 3 cards of the same value and two more cards of another value. An example of a full house is 8,8,8,6,6.

Four of a Kind: As the name suggests it is four cards with the same numerical value. An example of four of a kind is J,J,J,J.

Straight Flush: A straight flush is the strongest hand and consists of five cards in sequence of the same suit. An example of a straight flush is 8,9,10,J,Q of clubs. The highest version of a straight flush is a Royal Flush and it runs from a 10 up to an Ace.

Many of the hands you will see when playing poker will look strong and you might want to play them always.
You need to pay attention to what is going on around you and you need to think of what your opponent might be holding.
If you feel you are beaten, don’t just hang on to it because you like it. Play the strong hands, but if you feel you are beaten just fold. Then wait for a new hand to come along and you might then have the upper hand and take down a sizable pot.

These winning poker hands are good to know by heart and you should after a short time playing poker.